User reviews

It always strikes me as quite remarkable that med students in horror films are even dumber than the average adolescent horror movie characters. I mean, these people are supposed to represent our doctors and scientists of tomorrow, yet when confronted with a potentially perilous situation, they take the absolute worst decisions of all. Basically speaking, "Red Mist" is another umpteenth variation on the 'I know what you did last Summer' slasher theme. In other words, a bunch of young people do something incredibly stupid that results in the death of an innocent person, but in order to save their own careers/reputations, the make a pact to keep it secret. The events naturally come back to haunt them. The culprits who were immediately prepared to ditch the dead guy usually die first and most painfully. The sole member of the group with a bit of a conscious, usually the one who insists at first on calling the police, still has a slight chance of survival. Nothing new or innovative there, as "Red Mist" revolves on a band of dim-witted med students that go out partying with drugs that they have stolen from the hospital pharmacy and cause for the mentally retarded morgue assistant Kenneth to OD into an epileptic attack and subsequently a coma. The whole group is perfectly happy with Kenneth's "permanent vegetative state", as this prevents him from talking about what really happened, but the celestial Catherine is overrun by feelings of guilt and remorse. To help poor Kenneth and bring him out of the coma, she secretly experiments upon him with a new type of drug. The treatment doesn't have the wanted effect, however, as it causes "out of the body" episodes during which Kenneth possess the bodies of random people and uses them to extract revenge on those who wronged him! Indeed, what we're dealing with here is a genuine amalgamation of "I Know what you did last Summer" and the obscure Aussie shocker "Patrick". The plot isn't very original, but even more troublesome is that "Red Mist" doesn't distinguish itself from the overload of contemporary horror films in terms of gore, atmosphere or suspense, neither. The film is dull and slow-paced, with unmemorable murders and clichéd situations. The attempts to bring additional depth and plot twists are well-intended but completely miss their effect (like the scene where Catherine suddenly awakes in a body bag in the middle of the woods) due to the overall predictability of the concept. The acting performances are decent, especially from Arielle Kebbel and Andrew Lee Potts, but these freshly faced twenty-something hunks and babes seriously don't look like future doctors or surgeons. This film is a slight improvement over "Shrooms" for director Paddy Breatnach, as that film was completely incoherent and messy, but it still isn't solid horror like it ought to be.

"Freakdog", "Coma: The Movie", "Frickin' Stupid Doctors" or whatever the film wants to call itself, is unsurprisingly a very unknown film. I had never heard of it, critics ripped it apart and medical students were probably told to never watch it (unless they purposefully wanted to fail). Essentially it's "I Know What You Did Last Summer" meets "Flatliners", and it's just as predictable as both of those films. A group of medical students make a pact to try and kill a creepy stalker, whom recorded footage of them stealing pharmaceuticals, but instead puts him in a coma.

However, this is very very bad. Why? Well because he can travel out of his body, possess these students and kill them in elaborate ways. A slasher/revenge flick utilising an admittedly unique and imaginative premise. Just a shame that pretty much everything sucked! Putting aside the absurdly cheap aesthetic, editing and direction, the film's biggest issue is with its characters. Forcing literally everyone to be unlikeable, from the students to the experienced doctors, results in an entirely expendable cast. A consequence of this is that whenever someone pours burning acid down another's throat or crushed their head in a car door, it's all for nothing. No emotional attachment. No "ahhh but I liked that guy!". Nothing. Then we somehow need to comprehend how unintelligent these students really are. This is the future generation of doctors! Why are they are all so frickin' dumb? And why is a predominately British cast playing American characters? Just get an American cast!

The gore was unfortunately rarely shown on screen, which culminates the "horror" aspect and lays it on an uncomfortable hospital bed whilst we all watch it slowly die. Acting? Questionable. Camera shots? Zoomed in. Conclusion? "Red Snooze". Oh, and if you have epilepsy...watch with caution. (Although I recommend you don't watch it at all, epileptic or not!). Nearly caused me to have a nosebleed with its excessive flashing lights. Seriously! My retinas were burning during the last five minutes. It's coma time!

Having seen the Northern Ireland premier of this home-grown horror film at QFT in Belfast, I can now share my disappointment in its complete lack of features that would lead me to recommend it. 'Freakdog' tells the somewhat original tale of a comatose man's control over a group of friends, leading them to commit unspeakable acts. Unfortunately, it fails on almost every level; a complete non-starter as a horror film and totally incoherent as a thriller.

The opening portion of the film is simply dull; a chance for the screenwriter's occasionally competent dialogue to be ruined by an ill-conceived cast. The character development is so lacking that all human aspect of the story is played entirely in cliché, and the standard of acting is poor even for a low-budget independent feature.

Of course, the purpose of this film is obviously to provide either shocks or genuine, disturbing scares. It delivers neither. The film is utterly inept as a horror, offering nothing but a series of mild gore scenes to fans of the genre. Essentially, this film is mixture of poor acting, dull cinematography and a script that, despite a few good pieces of dialogue, is both confusing and simplistic in equal measure. However, the production team must be commended for successfully shooting a U.S-set film in Belfast, which is carried of convincingly.

Overall, 'Freakdog' is a poor effort when pitched against either major Hollywood horror films or the usual B-movie fare. It fails to deliver the necessary scares and constantly suffers from poor acting and a ludicrous storyline. I really cannot recommend this film, which is a real shame as I was hoping it would deliver so much more.

A group of potential doctors are caught doing drugs by a local man with a stuttering problem. In order to cover their butts and keep their scholarships, they invite the man to join them, sending him into a coma after the drugs hit him the wrong way. When one of the potential doctors (Arielle Kebbel) tries to help him, unexpected consequences emerge.

Reviews on this film have been generally negative, with some people saying it is "as bad as 'Shrooms'" (the director's other notable movie). I don't see where these people are coming from. Sure, there are some bad things about this film... for one, the story drags a bit at times, and one character more or less repeats his same speech every five minutes he shows up. We also have the familiar story, which is not unlike "I Know What You Did Last Summer" or any number of other films.

But I thought the visuals were well done, the action was intense, and the casting was for the most part excellent. The ladies were well-cast beyond a doubt. MyAnna Buring as Shelby was a good move, as she's not only gorgeous but has the horror veteran status ("The Descent", "The Omen"). Putting Arielle Kebbel in the lead was brilliant. I've had my eye on her since "American Pie" Band Camp", where I noticed that despite the juvenile film, she really stood out. I expect her to break into the big time any day now.

I also have to give the film credit for trying to tie in actual science to a paranormal theme. Far too many films will introduce supernatural elements with no attempt to explain them. Here, we have a psychic theme tied to a little-known part of the brain called the angular gyrus. According to Wikipedia, "experiments have demonstrated the possibility that stimulation of the angular gyrus is the cause of out-of-body experiences. Stimulation of the angular gyrus in one experiment caused a woman to perceive a phantom existence behind her. Another such experiment gave the test subject the sensation of being on the ceiling. This is attributed to a discrepancy in the actual position of the body, and the mind's perceived location of the body." So, there's at least some level of truth to what the film shows.

I enjoyed this movie, and I won't lie about it. I'm not going to say it's "the film of the year" or any of those bold claims that movie reviewers make all the time, because that's just simply not going to be true. But it's well worth seeing if you have a steady intake of horror flicks. Of the films I've seen recently, it was among the better ones. And Arielle Kebbel... I mean, she just sells a film, doesn't she?

Or is it "Dog Standard"? ;o) Just kidding, I'm not spoiling anything, by saying the movie doesn't involve a dog (as in an animal). It's a "nickname". The movie is more or less what you would expect it is (with one or two exceptions). The gore is OK, the story has been told in similar fashion many times and the acting is OK.

The craziest thing was a warning before the movie started. For anyone who might be epileptic, there are scenes in here, that will trigger epilepsy (I don't know if there is any other more political correct way to say that, but I guess you get my point). The movie was screened at Fright Fest and the reaction of most of the crowd was less than enthusiastic (some even said, that it was as "bad" as Shrooms ... since I haven't yet seen that one, I can't comment on that though)

After inadvertently putting a young man into a coma, a doctor tries to resuscitate him with a powerful new drug being tested at the hospital only for his murderous spirit to possess passers-by and kill them one-by-one for putting him there.

This one managed to be quite enjoyable even if nothing really sticks out afterward. The fact that this is based so much on a familiar, over-done plot-point of having the perpetrator seek revenge by body-hopping from one person to another going after the ones who placed him there is a tired, overdone cliché that really seems quite ludicrous the way it's presented here as being done through the tell-tale sign of a bloody nose after-the-fact, which manages to feel quite lame and ludicrous as yo be the overall source of the possession it really feels quite shorthanded. Though it does manage to have a rather credible back-story in the attempt to tie it in with the out-of-body experience from the experimental drug treatment, the fact that it's never explicitly stated how it's possible to do that makes for a really lame-duck explanation. As well, there's very little thought put into the film's final twist in terms of connecting it to explaining how the various crimes were committed, as this one manages to attempt something interesting in the final minutes only to undermine everything that's happened beforehand with the story to wrap everything up in how it played out, so in the end re-writes itself out of it's original storyline and produces a huge gap in logic rather easily. That said, there's still some good stuff here in the brutal deaths doled out which are quite fun and enjoyable in how shocking and nasty they get, as well as the concept of how it does these acts come about. Though it goes for mere shock value instead of playing about with suspense in these cases, it does work on the brutality stakes more than the actual scare factor. As well, the final matter of dealing with the body is quite ingenious and really unique, looking for a new way to actually deal with the threat that's never been done before and manage to work itself into the story rather nicely, in spite of the problems it perceived into the storyline. These made the film watchable and enjoyable, but it does have a few problems.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity and heavy drug use.

I've just watched this at Frightfest festival and to be honest I think it's a really good movie. Ticks all the boxes for me for what a good horror should have... Blood (tick), gore (tick), deaths (tick) a hot lead (tick, tick) and a few twists in the plot (Tick!).All in all this surprised me in how good it was. I've heard the budget isn't brilliant (Rumoured to be around £2million) and if this is the case then they've done a great job!) Also is it true that this was filmed totally in Belfast??? If this is the case then I would never have guessed - every location had me fooled into believing it was in America!! I'd give this 8/10 and in saying that when it is released nationwide I'll probably go back to watch it again (i'm weird like that - i enjoy watching a film for a 2nd time once I've seen the twists played out the first time round!)

Go see it it's well worth the visit!

It's been a while since I liked a horror movie as much as this one. Much credit goes to Arielle Kebbel who is a great actress and looks even better. The director also knows how to film her.

A bunch of medical students go partying. A freaky loner (Kenneth) who may work at the morgue and who has a crush on Cathering (Kebbel) shows up and films their drinking and drug shenanigans. That could get them in serious trouble. So they decide to get him drunk, drugged. But he's also an epileptic who gets seizures with strobe lights. Once he goes into a seizure and starts choking, the group debates whether to help him or rather save their careers. Arguing against helping him is a bastard named Sean. They decide to dump him in front of a hospital.

It turns out that till he gets help, Kenneth's brain has already suffered enough oxygen deprivation to put him in a coma. Cathering, feeling guilty does research and actually medicates him with trial meds to help him. But something strange happens. People suddenly start killing the group of students one by one and yet remember nothing. It's as if they are possessed and it may be Kenneth who thanks to the trial meds gained some type of power.

Horror movies set in hospitals and with medical students always have a lot of potential. Many turn out disappointing. Red Mist on the other hand turned out great. The kills are gory and violent, there's a bit of nudity, the story is very good, the cast looks good and does a great job. Apparently this movie was filmed in Ireland although you can't tell, there are no outdoor scenes. Not sure what the purpose is to film this elsewhere when they don't take advantage of the setting. Overall, a highly recommended horror movie.

Even the extras are worth seeing as Kebbel actually takes part in most of them and shows herself to be a very fun girl.

Irish film-maker Paddy Breathnach bored me to tears with the asinine drivel that was Shrooms, but being the reasonable fellow that I am, I was willing to give the guy a second chance at impressing me with his next movie, Red Mist AKA Freakdog (the fact that the back of the DVD showed hottie Arielle Kebbel in her undies had nothing to do with my decision—Scout's honour!).

Although this film isn't as soporific as Breathnach's earlier fungi-flavoured flop, at least delivering a few reasonable performances, it's still an ultimately unimpressive effort, with a derivative narrative that borrows heavily from several other horrors (most notably 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and 'Patrick'), a thoroughly unlikable group of extremely clichéd characters, and a surprising lack of gore given the nasty ways in which the characters meet their fates (a juicy knife-in-the-throat aside, Breathnach misses every opportunity to really gross out his audience).

Oh, and the 'Kebbel in her scanties' scene lasts for all of 10 seconds... grrrrr!

This movie start from really good, it bit like i know what did last did last Night.

Number of medical student on there first day at the Jobs at the hospital and later they decide to club after the hard day at work.

so as they all go to club and party and someone spikes the janitor drinks and then soon fun turns into a nightmare as he collapse on the table, everyone around them agrees to keep this very quite or they that Medical Jobs will over before it even started, so dump the body out hospital and rush of in a car.

Now the boy is in a coma, Girl who tries to help by giving him more pills/drugs but that make things even worse, As he now can get out of his boy and get into other people and stating killing the people who left him to die.

Death were good, not gory but the deaths did look painfully, one of the gory deaths were of screen.

I was disappointed with movie, it wasn't scary at all, didn't even try to be scary! Okay movie, worth watching.

I give this movie a 4/10

What is it with some people, the problem this movie had is that many people broke it down. But the movie already had one problem, the title. Is it Freakdog or is it Red Mist. Anyhow don't be bothered by it. This is another film made by the director of Schroom, one that was spitted out by the creeps and freaks. Being a geek myself I watched without prejudice Red Mist. The storyline is good and easy to follow. The killings that appear are mostly done off camera except the one on the stairs which is for me the best one and the goriest one. By filming most killings not in front of the camera and not having any nudity but still having his 18 logo this is were this film fails. By having the famous 18 logo people expect vicious killings. But no. The red stuff flows but always when the killings have happened.The movie never bored me and the plot is really nice. I would not recommend it to the hard core horror freaks but to those who like a good suspense with a little horror twist. I rather have given it a 15 logo.

In the past years, writers of Horror screenplay have really had to adjust to the new standards set by progress. The good ol' Teen Slashers are still good, but not groundbreaking, and the audience have become bored with them (and rightfully so, how many films with the same story and settings can we take? Even the characters are the same but with different names!) So some attempted to be groundbreaking by being graphic and sadistic (like Hostel), some being ironically smart (like Cabin in the Woods) and some by being plain sick (like Human Centipede).

However, in Red Mist, writer Spence Wright has managed to combine some familiar elements in a never before seen way (at least by me). Wright took the good ol' fashioned "prank gone wrong" scenario (like in Tamara or Sorority Row) and combine it with a touch of the supernatural, as the victim of the prank is locked in a coma but has out-of-body experiences during which he takes possession of people and make them murder the ones who were involved in the prank. This was, in my opinion, a refreshingly original idea.

As for the characters, the "rules" remained pretty much intact. There's the selfish bastard who passionately and roughly convinces the rest not to tell anyone what happened so they don't destroy their (and mostly his) future. The're the good guy who has a thing with the main protagonist, he just gets carried away and allows himself to be convinced by the selfish bastard. There's the "princess" who doesn't want her daddy to find out, the cold "goth bitch" who couldn't care less, and the straight A geek girl who panics. And of course there's the protagonist, representing sort of a mixed up combination of all of the above. Classic, nothing new here. Acting was pretty good.

In my opinion, the film was really aching for a twist, a clever surprise to "seal the deal" and really make Red Mist one of the best. Unfortunately, there were no surprises. The final scene was a little vague and not so easy to understand, the entire ending felt a little anticlimactic. That's another challenge Horror screenwriters will have to learn to deal with - learning how to make climactic endings again. Having our minds blown away might be a lot to ask for, but it's part of the makings of a truly good Horror film.

All in all, Red Mist (btw I can't understand why they've chosen that name, should have stuck with Freakdog) was pretty original in its own way, and fun to watch. I would gladly recommend it to Horror fans who'd like to see something "newish".

One reason I rented this is to see Arielle Kebbel, who did a nice turn in "The Uninvited." She is the lead here and is on screen for 90 percent of the movie. She has a very full, slightly downturned mouth that is hugely expressive. big eyes, too. You see a transformation come over her in the course of the movie, changing from Ken-pitier to Ken-hater. I had to smile when she tells the cop near the end "In a heartbeat." The copy I rented was titled "Red Mist." "Freakdog," which is an important word in the movie's plot, I think is a better title.

This movie is ... the only word that comes to mind is "good." It is well shot, moves at a pretty fast pace (especially at the end) and is decently acted by a cast of mostly unknowns.

Considering what is happening in horror movies these days, this movie is rather remarkable for the restraint it shows. There's gore and several nasty deaths, but these shots are never gratuitous. They just show what is necessary to make the point.

This belongs to the horror subgenre of rogue medical students. This is a worthy if unspectacular addition. The absolute pinnacle in this subgenre is, of course, "Re-Animator."

I just watched this movie, titled as Red Mist. I see now why it also has the name Freakdog, its what the teens in the movie called the outcast, and by the way an excellent performance by Andrew Lee Potts(Return To House On Haunted Hill) as the flicks villain. This movie featured three very hot chicks, Arielle Kebbel(The Uninvited and The Grudge 2), Sarah Carter(Skinwalkers and A Date With Darkness) and MyAnna Buring(The Descent and Doomsday) and others who all work at a medical center. In this movie, a group of popular friends target a loner and when a prank goes too far, he winds up in a coma. When one of them regrets what happened to him, she injects him with a experimental serum, that has killer side effects. Soon enough, the ones responsible for his accident begin to die one by one, but the worst part is he can be in anybody. The remaining friends work to find a way to stop him, but they find out, that you cant always trust your friends in this horror thriller. I really enjoyed this movie, i wish that it would of been out in theaters, i would of definitely gone and seen it, plus I'm a huge fan of Arielle Kebbel, her movies always rock.(John Tucker Must Die and American Pie: Band Camp). So, i definitely recommend this flick to die hard horror fans!!

The easiest way I can think of to describe this movie is....just.

Its just ok, not horrible (which for a horror movie is probably quite an achievement). Its not particularly creative, some of the deaths are pretty good.

The acting is ok, the pacing is ok, the ending is meh!

You would hardly go out and buy it but you probably wouldn't turn it off either :)